Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd v Sky Plc & Ors [2016] EWHC 1340 (IPEC) (08 June 2016)

Skyscape Cloud Services Ltd v Sky Plc & Ors [2016] EWHC 1340 (IPEC) (08 June 2016)

The court refused to grant the declaration of non-infringement sought by Skyscape because the issues were not sufficiently clearly defined to be justiciable. The declaration covered a large number of combinations of signs and services, making it unfair to require Sky to address all possible permutations. The burden on Skyscape, as applicant for a DNI, was to show that there was not even a faint similarity between its signs/services and the Sky marks/goods/services, which it failed to do. The court held that the application contravened the principle that the underlying issue must be clearly defined, and thus declined to grant any declaration.

Citation
[2016] EWHC 1340 (IPEC)
Parties
Claimant: Skyscape Cloud Services Limited; Defendant: Sky Plc; Defendant: Sky UK Limited; Defendant: Sky International AG
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
08 June 2016
Procedural Posture
Intellectual Property (trade Mark) Declaratory Relief / Judgment After Trial
Outcome
Declaration of non-infringement refused.
Legal Topics
Trade Marks, Declaratory Relief, Negative Declarations, Likelihood of Confusion, Similarity of Marks, Cloud Computing Services
Intellectual Property Law Trade Marks Declaratory Relief Negative Declarations Likelihood of Confusion Similarity of Marks Cloud Computing Services

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Parties

Skyscape Cloud Services Limited

Claimant

Sky Plc

Defendant

Sky UK Limited

Defendant

Sky International AG

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Intellectual Property (trade Mark) Declaratory Relief / Judgment After Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Skyscape's use of the sign 'Skyscape' in relation to its cloud computing services infringes any of the five cited trade marks owned by the Sky Group under Article 9(1)(b) or 9(1)(c) of the Trade Mark Regulation.
  2. 2 Whether the court should grant a declaration of non-infringement (DNI) in the terms sought by Skyscape.

Ratio Decidendi

The court refused to grant the declaration of non-infringement sought by Skyscape because the issues were not sufficiently clearly defined to be justiciable. The declaration covered a large number of combinations of signs and services, making it unfair to require Sky to address all possible permutations. The burden on Skyscape, as applicant for a DNI, was to show that there was not even a faint similarity between its signs/services and the Sky marks/goods/services, which it failed to do. The court held that the application contravened the principle that the underlying issue must be clearly defined, and thus declined to grant any declaration.

Court Disposition

Declaration of non-infringement refused.

Orders

  • No declaration of non-infringement granted.